LIKE politics, chilli peppers polarise opinion. You either loathe them or you can't get enough.
Relative newcomers to Irish kitchens, spicy chillies have been enjoyed for thousands of years in the cuisines of the Indian subcontinent, South East Asia Southern China, Korea and South America. More recently, they've found their way into the cuisine of Italy and the spicy Cajun cooking of Louisiana.
In my opinion they make a great addition to any meal they're packed with vitamin C, and have the benefit of making you feel fuller quicker, so they're good for dieters. As more and more ethnic restaurants appear across Ireland, an increasing number of people are conquering their fear of the burn and turning to the fruit of fire.
Whether you like them or not, one of the most pleasant things about chillies is the ease with which they can be grown. The dark green, shiny leaves and cheeky red fruit of a small chilli bush will brighten any conservatory or kitchen window sill. And by choosing carefully and watching the ripening process, you can pick a bumper harvest of chillies which match your taste exactly.
The first three weeks of April are the ideal time for planting chillies. Seeds can be obtained from any garden centre but the easiest and cheapest way to grow the plant is by buying fresh chillies from the supermarket and removing the seeds by hand for planting. Each chilli, when slit length ways, will reveal between 50 and 100 seeds to scrape, out, and you can cook with what's left over.
To germinate, put between 30 and 50 seeds in a seed tray, water and leave in a hot press. After a week or two you should find most seeds have begun to sprout. Plant about two sprouts per pot to a depth of a centimetre. Remember, chillies come from hot climates, so keep the plants indoors in a warm sunny part of the house and do not over water.
After a couple of months, once each plant begins to branch and when buds are apparent, snip off the centre stem about a centimetre from the top. This encourages the plant to bush out and concentrate its energies on producing fruit. By summer, you should see your first chilli crop appear.
Testing the ripeness of the fruit is an adventure in itself. For Irish growers, ripeness is going to be a matter of trial and error. Unless you are very used to the heat of chillies, don't taste them draw. Make a stir fry or a curry and add two chillies note the ripeness and size, and then record the spiciness.
In time, you will come to recognise the perfect time to pick. In southern Louisiana, an entire city takes its name from this obsession near the Tabasco Sauce factory at Avery Island, a specially painted red stick is still used in the fields for colour comparison to determine when each capsicum pepper is at its peak ripeness. From this implement comes the name of the town, "Baton Rouge".
A delightful aspect of the chilli family is the huge quantity of fruit produced by each bush. If you don't want them to go to waste, and have given as many as possible away and still have a surplus, there are several interesting methods of storing the peppers. They may be pickled in vinegar, but this tends to mask the delicacy of the underlying flavour. Chillies are easily dried, but it should be noted carefully that the older a dried chilli gets, the hotter it becomes.
My favourite method of preservation is to take a jar, add a couple of whole peeled cloves of garlic and some peppercorns, fill it with chillies and cover with olive oil. This method prevents the chillies from becoming unbearably spicy. Seal the jar and leave it in a dark cupboard, but not in the fridge as this will tend to ruin the olive oil. Chillies can then be removed whenever needed, and when they have all been used the left over spicy oil can be used for cooking three or four drops will spice up a pasta sauce or in a fiery salad dressing.
ONE exceptionally dangerous preservation method from New Zealand is to soak chillies for several weeks in tequila, and drink small tequila shots very quickly. This is certainly not recommended, and nobody I have spoken to can remember what happens to the chillies afterwards.
Recipes incorporating chillies are many and diverse. Green chillies simmered with coconut milk fresh coriander and lemon grass, then blended, make a fine Thai green curry. In the Szechaun region of China, whole large green chillies are charred for just a couple of seconds in a hot wok and served with a sprinkling of soy sauce. Most Indian dishes incorporate them to varying degrees, and all Mexican dishes are laden with them.
But why not experiment? Try adding chopped chillies to colcannon. A couple of chopped, fried chillies in an Irish stew would cause a sensation in more ways than one.
Contrary to popular opinion, the alkaloid capsaicin, which causes the famous burning sensation, is not stored in the seeds, which are perfectly edible, but in the internal ribs of the plant. which may be removed if it all gets a bit too hot.
If you do find that you've overdone it and the burn is a little too much for you, remember that dairy products help to take away the agony. In most Indian restaurants you can order a "sweet lassi", which is a delicious yogurt drink rather than a nice young lady. At home, just gulp down a glass of milk. Others recommend neat whiskey to help digestion, but I have never found this to work. One self confessed chilli freak recommended leaving a toilet roll in the freezer overnight to ease the pain of the morning after.
One final word of advice. Whatever you do, wash your hands thoroughly before you touch your face or go to the toilet. Many an amateur chef has had to take the day off with "chilli willy"